Cartier Tank Must, Art Deco Dial Ref. 366001, 1990s

Identity

Cartier Tank Must, Art déco dial, Ref. 366001, 1990s. Quartz movement. Vermeil Tank case, 20 × 28 mm, crown set with a sapphire cabochon. Grey and black Art déco dial, gilt Roman numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock, railway minute track, vermeil hands. Mineral crystal. Leather strap, gold-plated Cartier pin buckle.

Horological context

Cartier — "the jeweller of kings and the king of jewellers", in the phrase attributed to King Edward VII — made the watch a jewel from the early twentieth century. In 1977, Alain-Dominique Perrin extended Les Must de Cartier, a line already born with lighters, pens and leather goods, to watches, in the midst of the oil crisis, in order to revive sales and open luxury design, at a more accessible price, to a new generation. Must watches take up the Cartier codes — Roman numerals, railway minute track, blued sword hands, crown set with a sapphire cabochon — in vermeil cases, the true stroke of genius of the concept: solid 925 silver coated with gold gives an impeccable finish at a considerably lower cost. The collection embraced the quartz revolution, without giving up manual winding. Three designs structure it: the Tank, faithful to the Tank Louis Cartier; the Vendôme, round, named after the square next to the rue de la Paix; the Colisée, round, with T-shaped lugs. Alongside the classic dials came monochromes in burgundy, navy blue or British racing green, and the Trinity dial, with the three golds of the ring Louis Cartier designed in 1924. Set aside during the 2000s, the collection was reborn in 2021 with the Tank Must, in steel.

Character

The dial plays on two planes: a plain grey central rectangle, bearing nothing but the "must de Cartier" signature, framed by a black band in which the four cardinal numerals and the gilt minute track draw a second frame, in the Art déco spirit. The polished brancards of the case elegantly extend this play of nested rectangles. At the edges, the vermeil lets the silver show through in places: the honest signature of a vintage watch.

Serviced watch. Normal patina and signs of age. Delivered with the Contre-Temps box and 24-month warranty certificate.